Runaways
by Sadistic Writer Alice
Summary: Four teenagers run away from their hometown together. Why? Because they aren't wanted there. AU!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: this idea has been in my head for a long time, so here's a short drabble. Originally there were going to be a lot more runaways, but I thought that four was a fitting number. And, before anyone comments 'there can't be a full moon because the moon was blown up!' this is AU :P no Korosensei/tentacles to blow up the moon or potentially the earth.**

 **I guess this can be considered a one-shot, but unless requested (and if I have enough crazy ideas in my head to continue the story) I will turn it into a full out story :P**

 **Anyways, please enjoy! Or not... you know, that's cool too. I can't exactly make you enjoy my work..**

 **Runaways**

In the dead of the night, underneath the full moon, four figures stood on top of a hill overlooking the city - their hometown - one last time.

Copper colored eyes stared down at the city lights with detest. The people who had 'supported him' had turned their backs to him and spat in his face because of one incident. Because in a town like this, justice is a sin. Well he wouldn't stay in a place where no one will fight to protect others.

"I won't miss it."

Two pairs of blue eyes looked at it all, one pair bright with excitement, the other filled with regret. Surely, they wouldn't be missed. Everyone often overlooked them and thought them to be childish and lazy. He wasn't exactly sure if running was the best choice, he realized that the main reason he chose to runaway with these people was because he was mad and hurt by those people close to him. But what good would it do to stay? He wasn't appreciated.

"I don't think I will either..."

Staying in a town full of workaholics and perfectionists didn't give her room to breathe and just live like a normal teenager. That wasn't what she wanted. She just wanted to live life on the edge, and be free from all the responsibilities she had to take on there. Running away was a new adventure that excited her, and she could already feel the rush of adrenaline going through her body as she couldn't wait to leave on the road.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go~"

Violet eyes glistened in the dark, as the last few tears escaped her now dull, lifeless eyes. She locked away her emotions, not knowing quite what to do with them. It wouldn't be useful to the group if she lost her composure and let her emotions overrule her sense of logic, she reasoned, wiping away her tears.

"Do you... think they'll catch us?"

The four turned away from the city, and began to walk down the paved road, slinging their backpacks over their shoulders.

"You really think they'd care to bring us back?" asked the boy with copper eyes and fiery red hair, a hint of bitterness in his tone of voice.

The short girl, with long, dark braided hair and violet eyes flinched a little, mumbling, "Well, maybe, um, no I guess not." She slumped her shoulders in defeat, and stopped walking to turn around and take a short glance back.

"Don't look back," the blonde girl said, blue eyes fixated on the road in front of her. "Because if you do, you might change your mind."

"Ah, r-right!" the dark haired girl stuttered, hurrying to catch up with the blonde. "I, I won't turn back."

The four of them would never turn back... or would they?


	2. Chapter 2

**Runaways**

It took them three days to get to Tokyo city, the four of them hitchhiking. They had made brief stops in order to check on the news in small towns, and to their luck, it seemed that there was no missing persons report on them yet.

Why were they going to Tokyo? In the biggest city, they could blend in with the crowd and get themselves fake identities, new clothes, supplies and anything else they needed. Of course, they weren't going to stay there, Karma, their unofficial leader said. The city was too big, and because none of them really knew their way around the place, they would have problems making a quick escape, especially if they weren't all in the same place.

That being said, they only spent five hours in the city.

The first hour, the four of them got cheap cell-phones to keep in touch with each other.

The second hour, they went to a hair salon. If they didn't want to be caught, they would have to change the most distinct characteristics of their outer-appearance.

The red-haired, unofficial leader Karma had his hair dyed black - his hair was really such a difficult bright color, that it would be nearly impossible to change the color to something lighter without having to bleach it, and that would just take too much of their time. So no longer was he a red-haired devil, but instead, a black-haired devil.

Second-in-command, but not officially, was Rio, the blonde-haired wild child. Truthfully, she probably could have just kept her hair color and cut it short, but in the end, the two shorties in the group, Nagisa and Manami, had influenced her decision to instead dye it a medium brown. Although she really didn't quite understand their fascination with her hair.

Then there was the blue-haired boy Nagisa. Without any hesitation, he had his long hair cut short, into an emo hairstyle. The hairdresser was upset when he said he wanted his hair cut short. She made a bargain with him to meet him half-way in letting her style his hair so that it was mostly short except for his bangs, and she would dye it a dark purple free of charge. So thus he ended up with dark purple emo hair. And then he would be teased mercilessly by both unofficial leader, and second-in-command, both saying how cute he was and that he should wear dark clothes from then on too.

Finally, there was Manami, the introverted girl with braided hair and glasses. Although she was hesitant at first, she let the hairdressers play with her hair, and thin it out a bit, they curled her hair and made a crown braid. She looked quite cute, Rio thought. After her hair was done, she bought Manami a hair curler and some hair products - because after today, she wanted to play with the girl's hair and style it; it was only fair, because the introvert liked playing with her hair too.

Their leader didn't utter a word of complaint to the purchases - although afterwards he and Nagisa stayed noticeably closer to the girls, occasionally glaring at any passers-by who looked at them more than once.

In the third hour, they shopped for clothes. They chose to get clothes at a thrift shop, as a lot of the name-brand stores were highly over-priced, and they didn't really care for dealing with store clerks following them around and asking if they needed help.

The boys opted to buy a few pairs of jeans, some t-shirts, and hoodies and vests, and sneakers. Within half-an hour they were done, and then had to patiently wait for the girls.

"You won't even try on a mini skirt?" Rio said exasperatedly. "Come on, you should step out of your comfort zone! We're trying to create new identities, remember?"

"I know," Manami mumbled, looking through the rack of clothes in front of her. "But, I'm not that confident. I'd feel better wearing capris and shorts."

"You're impossible," The brown-haired girl said, holding out a white, flowy summer dress to the shorter girl. "At least get this, ok? It's cute and simple, and you'd look like an angel in it."

"Mm, ok." the shorter girl complied. "But, only if you will get this." She held out a pastel blue dress which tied around the neck.

"Ok ok. Now that we've come to a compromise on that... there's shoes." Rio smiled, taking the dress and dragging the girl over to the shoes section. "I think we should get you a pair of black strapped heals. And boots! Oh you'd look adorable wearing that white dress and a pair of white boots, and - I could put flowers in your hair! Oh! The possibilities!"

"Um, ok.." Manami felt sweat pouring down her face as she went along with the girl, who was getting really excited about dressing her up. Was she a doll now?

Meanwhile the boys watched the two, the black-haired boy with an amused smile on his face, the other expressing concern for the smallest of the group.

"So Rio likes to play dress-up with Manami now, huh.. I'm a little worried about what she will do."

"It's fine, as long as they get along right?" Karma said, shrugging.

The girls had gone on to a different section of the store, getting a few accessories, and contact lenses for the two of them - Rio wanted to have green eyes, and she insisted that Manami start wearing contacts - to help keep her from getting discovered, and also because she wanted to see the boys' jaws drop when they saw how cute she was.

"OK! We're done!" Rio grinned, running to the two boys, Manami trailing after her, carrying a few shopping bags.

In the fourth hour in the city, they went to a fast-food restaurant and got lunch. Afterwards, in the fifth hour, they agreed on taking a train out of the city and finding a rental place in Kamakura, specifically in the Dai district.

"Why there?" Manami asked the second shortest of the group.

"It has two train lines running through it, and a monoline. If we ever had to get out quickly, we could get on a train with a moment's notice." Nagisa explained, pointing to the digital map on his phone.

"Hm.. good choice, Nagisa." Karma said, looking at the map. "I'll find us a cheap place that we can rent."

Because both of his parents had a lot of money and time, they traveled around the world, leaving their son at home. They frequently deposited money into his bank account so he could pay rent, buy food, and other necessities. The dark haired boy quickly found a place, and made arrangements for them to live in a small two bedroom apartment.

"Isn't that a bit sketchy?" Rio asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's only been twenty minutes and they've already given us the place."

"The more sketchy, the better it is for us." Karma said bluntly. "You see, if we're going to be making quick getaways, we need only pay a couple thousand yen and then we're out of there without a word of complaint from the landlord. As long as he gets money, he doesn't care if we don't give much notice."

"So there really are places like that." Manami mumbled to herself, shivering slightly.

"We should be on our way then." Nagisa said, putting away his phone. "If we get on the next train in five minutes, we'll be their by five."

"Alright," the group agreed, and made their way to the train station.

They made a mistake, talking freely in a public area. They made a mistake, going to that restaurant. They didn't notice the dark-haired man in the business suit listening in on their conversation, didn't see him take down notes, or hear him say, "We've got more runaways."

* * *

A/N: I've spent most of my afternoon and evening writing this! And this chapter is done! *collapses in exhaustion* I never thought it would be difficult to make changes to appearances in characters! xP But I'm happy! Now I have a ton of ideas for this story! :D

Really early in the game to say this, but, shipping anyone? xD what do you think of their changed appearances? love, hate, meh?

I'm not decided on any particular pairing in this story... so ya, I'm thinking I'm going to experiment with the cast and create moments between all of 'em, ok, not like all of them at once, but you know, like Karma and Rio, and Manami and Nagisa, and Manami and Karma, and ya :P


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: hi everyone! Alice here with a short chapter for you all! Because ya, like a few of you wanted, they deserve a little fun and peace before everything goes to hell :P Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews and favs/follows :)**

 **Runaways**

"...it's...spacious."

"And bright."

"And decorated too."

The group looked around the apartment they got. There was a big empty room with a hole in the middle of the floor, half-covered up by a thick red carpet, the pasty white walls had English words spray-painted on them, the smallest in the group noted. She tried to read the words but struggled a bit. So, she tried to get some help from her female companion.

"What does F-U-"

"Don't look at the writing Midori. Your innocence will leave you if you do." the brunette covered her mouth, turning the girl's attention away from the walls. "Let's go check the other rooms."

"If you say so Ri .. I mean Rin." 'Midori' picked up the bags of clothes they had bought in Tokyo and 'Rin' picked a door to the right of the entrance, turning the handle and swinging it open, she noted that it was hanging on only one hinge. The bathroom was tiny - there was a tiled shower, the shower head was missing and had been replaced with a soda bottle with holes in it. There was a sink basin, and a small cracked mirror, and there was a toilet.

"Well, we'll just go to the bath house every day," Rin said, closing the door carefully and turning around. "These other two doors must lead to the bedrooms."

The first bedroom they checked was rather small, and the wood floor had weird splotches of dark substances, and a broken ceiling fan which was not on the ceiling, but it seems to be jammed inbetween the boards boarding up a big window. The hanging light from the ceiling swayed every once and a while, and it was very dull, and would occasionally flicker on and off with a strange snapping sound. They didn't stay in the room for more than thirty seconds.

The second bedroom was big, and cold. There was a big heater, which just so happened to not work as any electrical outlets in the room appeared to be damaged in some way. It was pretty barren, if not for the strange plastic bags which had fallen out of the closet with sliding doors. They would not be touching those. There was a window, which was broken. It was being propped open by some metal prongs, which were covered in cobwebs and... what was that green stuff?

The boys of the group peered into all of the rooms after the girls, the leader was pretty calm and collected, while the emo-haired boy was feeling a bit nervous looking at all of the rooms. He could see why this place was so dirt cheap.

"Kazuo, you picked an interesting space."

"Thank you, Noriko."

"It's Nori, don't add -ko to the end of it! I'm not a girl."

"Eh? But I'm only calling you affectionately~!"

The girls couldn't help but giggle, watching the two boys, their leader teasing the short boy and in turn the boy getting mad and flailing his hands around in frustration.

"Aw, Nori-chii, he's just trying to have fun," Rin said, slinging her arm around the purple haired boy. "We all know that you're a boy..."

"..."

"..."

The other two were silent and sullen as they looked at the floor, not agreeing with the second-in-command, and not disagreeing.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW I'M A BOY?!" Nori cried, staring at the two in disbelief. "What, do I have to prove it you!?"

Midori tilted her head in confusion at the boy, asking innocently, "Prove it? How do you...?"

"Nope!" Rin suddenly put some distance inbetween the two shorties, knowing that this could end badly for everyone. "Nori-chii, please, don't ever joke about stuff like that with Midori."

Nori just nodded his head, seeing the serious look in Rin's eyes. Meanwhile, Kazuo was emptying his backpack onto the floor. There were various items, such as a blanket, a flashlight, some matches, wallet, tape, glue, and some other handy items, such as pocket knives. He reasoned that he should show the girls how to defend themselves on the streets, but maybe, giving them knives was a bit too soon. So long as they stuck together in pairs, they should be fine. But still, he wasn't taking chances, so he kept two knives on his person.

Midori also started taking things out of her own pack. She had a blanket, a notebook, pens, spare glasses, a small first aid kit, and some vitamins of sorts. The others had learned on their first day of hitchhiking that the small girl was anemic, as she had passed out for a couple of minutes during the day. Luckily she had remembered to pack some iron tablets, which they then made sure that she took them every single day.

Nori's pack consisted in contents of: a blanket, a notebook, a flashlight, cold medicine (just in case), a small umbrella for the rainy season, a light sweater, and some socks. Socks? they could also be used as a pair of gloves if it was especially cold. Genius. He seemed to be the type that didn't like the cold, everyone guessed, probably because he was more prone to getting sick than the rest of them.

Then there was Nori's pack. Unlike the others, she had packed some fun stuff: a deck of cards, a camera, a book of puns - which was now torn in half, as Kazuo was sick and tired of her puns on the second day - some fire crackers, sparklers, a baseball and some make up, which she intended to make use of on Midori - and maybe Nori-chii, if she had the time to get him to 'cooperate'.

Together the four of them made up a bed on the floor using the three blankets they had, because it was silently agreed upon that none of them would be staying in the bedrooms, they were truly mysterious and frightening.

That first night, they slept together peacefully, getting the sleep that they needed after travelling.

But the next night would not be so peaceful.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I cannot get this story out of my head xD *hides face in pillow* I know it's only been a couple of hours but... surprise! It's a fluffy chapter full of fan-service! *gets smacked upside the head by self-conscience* *sigh* So early to be doing this... but I'm in a happy mood, and happy me wants to make a happy chapter before... the thing. *points to next chapter* so here's a filler-but-not chapter for you all.**

 **Runaways**

Kazuo could feel something soft tickling his face as he awoke. The sun had just risen a few minutes ago, and yellow-orange light was filtering into the room. He turned his head to the side, and he saw Rin sleeping away, her face close to his. Her brown hair, it was really pretty in the sunlight. Maybe it was just because they were in a really bright room, and maybe it was the sun's rays shining down on the top of her head, but she looked like an angel, she was practically glowing.

Her eyelashes, were long and dark, and her lips.. were they always such a ruby pink? Looking at her closely, he began to notice how pretty she was. He noticed the arch of her lips, her cupid's bow, the faint little freckles on her cheeks, and the way her bottom lip would sometimes quiver if she felt a chill.

 _So she can look like this when she's sleeping.. I want to wake her up, just so no one else could see her as an angel._

He raised his hand, and rested it on her shoulder, but he didn't do anything more to wake her.

 _Maybe I'll let her sleep... just a bit longer._

He thought, taking in her appearance again before closing his eyes and waiting for the others to start waking up...

It was rather late in the morning before the second of the four teens awoke, feeling well rested and.. incredibly warm. Not wanting to open his eyes, the dark purple haired boy instead hugged the source of warmth close to him, noting it to be very soft. Strange, he didn't ever remember his pillow being so soft and.. wait.

Wait.

He opened his eyes, and as his eyes got used to the bright sunlight that was in the room, he saw the dark raven colored hair of the smallest girl, Mana- Midori. He then came to realize that he had one arm wrapped around the girl's abdomen, and her head was rested on his other arm, using it as a pillow. His legs had become entwined with hers, and they were _very_ close together, with little space inbetween them.

Why had Kazuo arranged them like this? For security.. Kazuo slept on one end, and him on the other. Because it wasn't gentlemanly to make a girl sleep on the edge. That, and he was sure that Rin would kill them for not thinking about hers and Midori's - mostly Midori's - safety.

"Mm.." Midori moved around in her sleep, turning over so that she was facing Nori, she snuggled close to him and buried her face in his chest.

Nori stiffened up, a soft pink blush coming to his cheeks as he looked at her peaceful sleeping face.

 _She's so vulnerable and.. kind of adorable. I can see why Rin is so protective of her. Even I want to treasure her..._

Rin was the third to wake up, and she made it a point to wake up the others, as she thought them to be sleeping.

"Good morning everybody! The sun is up, and we're in bed?! I feel like we're a bunch of honeymooners', let's get up and start the day~!" She sang cheerfully, standing, up, throwing the blankets off of herself. She didn't even notice that she had been super close with their black-haired leader, much to said-boy's disappointment. He wanted a cute, flustered reaction from her, but apparently that didn't happen.

"Mm-hm," the raven-haired girl of the group mumbled, still cuddling with Nori while she was still feeling rather sleepy.

"Um, M-Midori-chan, let's get up now. It's almost noon already." Nori whispered softly, trying to put a little bit of distance between them. He was feeling embarrassed by Rin's words, and he wasn't sure exactly how Midori might react to their current.. position. Thank god Rin didn't see them like this, or she might just tease him to death.. or beat him to death. One or the other, both were equally as bad.

Nori opted to first get their legs untangled before he managed to gently get the girl's head off of his arm, and remove his other arm from around her waist just before she started to open her eyes.

"Morning..." Midori yawned, sitting up and stretching her arms out. "Mm, where are my glasses...?"

"No glasses today!" Rin said, grabbing the girl's wrist. "Today, you're wearing contacts! I've already got mine in, so I can help you with yours!"

Kazuo watched the two, noticing the change in the brunette's eye color. Her eyes were a deep green now, but.. he thought that blue was better. Her lively green eyes just seemed, unnatural. He didn't like her contacts. But he wouldn't tell her that.

It was that morning that the two boys of the group started to regard the girls in a different lighting, whether they knew it or not, they had become drawn to them. Maybe, staying in that cheap apartment wasn't so bad, when you had a couple of angels to keep you company.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: again, I'd just like to say that I'm experimenting around with the two possible pairings. Because these characters are fourteen and fifteen year olds who don't know each other extremely well and are anxious about what'll happen around them and in their home town - I'm just going to wait another ten - maybe fifteen - chapters from now to decide on which pairings will happen for real in this story. Still, no guarantee that they will stick..**

 **Ya, I'm cruel that way :P**

 **Runaways**

Without anything to do in the apartment, four teens decided on visiting a coffee shop in the afternoon. There they could eavesdrop on conversations and possibly find out if they've been reported missing. Well, unfortunately, they just wouldn't find out.

"Oh, em, gee, like, Maehara just texted me asking me out!"

"Yui, you do realize that you moved _away_ from Kunugigaoka right?"

Copper eyes flickered towards the two BFFs sitting at a table a couple feet away. One of them was a brunette wearing a purple sundress and lots of make-up, the other was a blonde in blue jeans and an orange tank top with no makeup.

It would seem that the brunette was receiving a text from a Maehara guy, from their hometown.

The other three in Kazuo's group listened to the girls' conversation as well. They all had their phones out and were fiddling around, pretending to be sending text messages.

"Ya but, like, he's reallllly hot. He said that we should meet up in Tokyo together."

Bzz bzz!

Midori checked her messages, finding one from the brunette sitting next to her, she read it.

They're talking about Maehara Hirito - he's the number one womanizer in our old school. He and I were in the same class together.

"Oh it sounds like he's serious about you." the other girl smiled. "Speaking of hotties... three o'clock, tall dark and handsome.." the blonde smiled, taking a peek at Kazuo and giggling.

Midori, being rather confused by their talk, texted back to Rin.

I don't think I've heard of him before now. . . hey what do they mean by saying 3? should we follow them when they leave?

Rin stifled a laugh, and quickly replied:

Those girls are checking out Kazuo. 3 o'clock means that she wants her friend to look directly to her right. You're so cute, you're killing me xD

"Oh, em, gee, like, no joke!" the brunette says, eyeing Kazuo. "And the other one is cute too. But," she then spoke in a whisper, "But they're with two girls. Are they all on a group date or something?"

Nori glanced at Kazuo questioningly, silently asking him what they should do. Kazuo texted him the plan. Reading over it, Nori smiled nervously, his mind reeling as he tried to think of how exactly he would be able to carry this out.

"Midori."

At the mention of her name, the petite girl's eyes flickered towards the tallest male.

"Let's go get some ice cream." Kazuo said, standing up, the short girl standing as well.

"Ok Kazuo."

She didn't get why they were leaving the coffee shop, but nonetheless she didn't question it - but what she did question was why the leader was holding her hand. Maybe this was so that they didn't get separated on the street.

Oh the mind of an innocent girl.

While they were going to get ice cream, Rin and Nori had moved their chairs closer together and were both doodling in Nori's notebook together.

"What is that supposed to be?" Nori asked, pointing at what looked like a footprint covered in leaves.

"That's you." Rin smiled proudly, finishing her masterpiece portrait of the boy. She had just put in his eyes, which looked like blueberries, his nose - a triangle, and a mouth, a watermelon slice?

Nori just laughed awkwardly. "I don't think you should become an artist."

"What?! How rude!"

"Ah, so they are taken." the two girls at the table sighed, leaving the coffee shop.

Just as Kazuo said, they'd probably leave if they thought that they were dating. Nori smiled, thinking how now they might draw less attention to themselves. That girl might have come to recognize one of them if they kept observing the group.

Well he was wrong.

Because those girls weren't around to talk about Maehara the womanizer - they were there to find those runaways and report their locations to a certain someone.

"Tall boy and short girl have separated from the group and are one block away." the brunette said, leaning against a brick wall, talking to the man in the shadows.

"Those other two will probably meet up with them in a while. They have phones on them." the blonde informed the man. "They aren't strong at all. An easy grab."

"Excellent work children." the man smiled, walking out of the shadows, a pleasant smile on his face. "You've done well to help your father." he held out to them a bag filled with sweet. "A reward for your efforts."

"Thank you, father." the two smiled, taking the sweets and walking down the street. "We'll meet you back at camp."

"Now it's time to go and adopt some more children into the family." the man licked his lips, a creepy, happy smile on his face as he cracked his knuckles and lumbered down the street, searching for an ice cream shop.

* * *

"You really like strawberries, don't you?" Midori commented, eating a spoonful of caramel ice cream in front of her. The two of them were sitting at the counter in the ice cream parlor side by side. There were a few people around, and they could easily hear conversations.

"Ya, strawberries are my favorite," Kazuo said, eating a large bowl of strawberry ice cream. "And you like sweets, don't you? Like caramel and toffee."

She smiled and gave a small nod. "I guess I have a bit of a sweet tooth."

The jingle of bells to the front door caught their attention and Midori glanced at the door, seeing a large man enter the place, a small cash pouch in hand as he went up to the counter.

He ordered a large bowl of ice cream and sat two seats away from them. Midori didn't pay much mind to him, and neither did Kazuo. But the man glanced at them, and he smiled friendly like.

"Hello! It's a nice day for a bowl of ice cream, isn't it?"

The two smiled at him and agreed happily.

They finished their ice creams, paid for it and then left the parlor, making their way back to the coffee shop. Maybe now the others would have heard anything interesting.

They barely made it around a corner when they were both grabbed from behind, wet cloths placed over their noses and mouths. Too caught off guard to have tried and escaped, they slipped into unconsciousness in the arms of their captor.

* * *

"Let's go outside and wait for them."

"Good idea,"

Nori and Rin stood up and left the coffee shop - it was pretty empty now, and they weren't getting any news. Outside the sun was setting and the streets were pretty empty, save for a car passing by once and a while.

They made a fatal mistake.

Those two girls from before were walking down the sidewalk, and they stopped in front of them, smiling.

Rin lifted an eyebrow, looking at them questioningly. Without warning, the brunette maneuvered around her quickly, hitting her in the back of the head with a heavy object, while the blonde stabbed Nori's arm with a needle of some kind which made him feel nauseous before he passed out.

"Oh em gee, like, too easy!" the brunette's face became passive and she picked up Rin with ease. "God I hate talking like a fucking ditz."

The blonde dragged Nori onto the road when a white SUV pulled to a stop, she shoved open the door and threw him into the back seat. "Whatever; just hurry up already, we've got to get back for the orientation."

"Oh I can't wait to see these newbies get broken in." the man at the steering wheel chuckled, driving out of the city when the girls got into the vehicle. "Don't you just love catching amateur runaways?"


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: short chapter, deemed part 1 of 4 in: Rookie Mistakes! The conclusion to the first arc in this story! Next arcs are probably going to be a bit longer.. Also, thanks for reviews! Reading them makes me feel so happy and encouraged! :)

 **Runaways**

There were four things to be noted by Kazuo upon gaining consciousness.

One: There was an aching pain in the back of his head. Two: He was in a small tent. Three: On either side of him was two little boys, roughly around the ages of nine and ten, shivering and looking around with wide, anxious eyes. Four: Nori, Rin and Midori weren't in the tent.

From what he could recall before losing consciousness, he and Midori left an ice cream shop together and were going to meet up with the other two. He could assume that Midori at least was possibly nearby somewhere.

Looking around, the dark haired boy noted that it was bright outside the tent, meaning he'd slept through the afternoon and evening. He was underneath a cotton blanket, so at least his kidnapper was decent enough to provide some form of covers and a shelter. He had to wonder just what sort of motives the mysterious person had - clearly not ones that he would have agreed to go along with if asked - so he could possibly narrow it down to: a ransom, or deranged person who thinks they're doing good by taking kids off of streets but are really fucking up countless lives.

Ransom was the least likely of the two. For one, he didn't carry an ID on him, and second, even if he did and for some reason the person, or people, could get a hold of his guardians they wouldn't give a fuck.

So it made sense in his head that some lunatic was trying to take in kids that looked homeless or like problem children, runaways and the like, and tried to shape them up into good people for the benefit of the world in the worst way.

Great. Just great.

First things first, as the leader, he'd see to it that he finds the smallest girl whom he'd been with last. Then he'd probably have a good idea of how to get them away safely, more or less.


	7. Chapter 7

**Runaways**

Midori was cold. Regaining consciousness, she lay curled up in a ball in a tent, too afraid to open her eyes. She felt nauseous, she couldn't move without feeling dizzy and ready to hurl.

She was acutely aware that she was not alone, and that whoever was with her was not her friend Kazuo.

Kazuo. Where was he?

She had to move. She had to find him.

Slowly, very slowly, she began to move and try to sit up in the tent.

Opening her eyes, she blinked and turned her head to the side, seeing a boy with white-blue hair and piercing yellow eyes crouched in front of the tent opening.

"You're finally awake. You're going to be late for orientation." Grabbing her by the arm, the boy pulled her out of the tent and didn't wait very long for her to properly stand before he was pulling her along a path through the woods towards a grassy meadow.

Stumbling and trying desperately to get out of the boy's grip, Midori looked around her. There were several tents back in the woods. And ahead of her there was kids standing about looking scared.

What was going on?

She nearly fell forward when the boy let go of her and pushed her into the group of kids.

"Don't try to run. If you do, I'll kill you." he threatened her.

For a moment, she thought she saw his eyes turn red, and she felt a chill go down her spine.

"Hello my children, my name is Takaoka, but you can call me dad or father."

A loud, cheerful voice called out, and Midori turned in the direction it came from.

There was a large man - it was the man from the parlor, she realized, smiling looking over the whole crowd.

"Now now, there's no need to be afraid of anything. You see, I'm here to help you become healthy and strong so that you can stand on your own two feet."

He was there.

He must have seen the person who attacked them.

"As father, I want you all to grow and flourish."

But that didn't even make sense to Midori. If he was there wouldn't it have been common sense to call the cops? To try and contact their parents? Unless.

"You've all been brought here because you couldn't survive on your own out there."

He kidnapped them.

"Kazuo.." Midori looked about her, desperately searching for the tall dark-haired boy. "Where are you?"


End file.
